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Sunday, April 24, 2011

Bonds of Liberty - Engagement

Mostly because I'm happy with how this turned out and felt like sharing =]

(And every minute I spend posting this is a minute I'm not

This was written for an undergraduate research seminar. Originally, I was going to use the class to do historically research for Love Letters, then I realized I'd rather write something totally new instead

Except me being me, it kinda turned out like Love Letters a bit :/

This is the third part (and kinda the best haha)

Engagement

THE PICNIC1

Mid September, 1920

Mt. Tamalpais.

WILLIAM, MARIANNA, BERT, and ALAN

all sit on a picnic blanket. WILLIAM,

32, and MARIANNA, 454, seem to be in

their own world. WILLIAM is tall and

slim, with blue eyes and reddish hair.

MARIANNA stands up and walks towards

the hillside.

MARIANNA

Oh, this view is lovely!

WILLIAM

Lovely.

MARIANNA

I feel like I could tell you anything.

ALAN

Bill seems pretty sweet on Miss Monkhouse.

BERT

I have fantastic taste in friends.

WILLIAM

You are right, love, let us have nothing, not even the

smallest particle of doubt, unknown to each other. I feel,

and always have felt, that to the woman I love I shall give

my every thot.5

BERT

And I'm not afraid to take credit for this young love. I have

the sharpest eyes for these sorts of things.

WILLIAM

A love that is not deep enough or sincere enough to

understand, no matter how painful it may be, is not my idea

WILLIAM (cont’d)

of true love. And two people, professing to love each other,

who hold back and dissimulate in their thots and actions are

not worthy of love.

BERT

From the start, I could tell. He's so thoughtful and serious

and she's so... mature.

ALAN

Mature is one way to put it.

BERT

And yet sprightly, for her age.

WILLIAM

I have always felt that if I could not be loved for what I am

I could well afford to lose that love.

And, dearest, I am happy to know and feel that you have given

me a true love and I know that I love you dearly.

BERT

I firmly believe that all the men and women in Berkeley

should just leave their pairings up to my capable hands!

WILLIAM

I have always told you without reserve what my nature and

faults are, and I know you love me in spite of my

shortcomings.

BERT

People just are not wise enough to make these sorts of

decisions for themselves of who should fall for whom, and--

WILLIAM

I feel more like normal now and all the world is as of yore -

with one exception - there is a Marianna now who steals these

my every thought, awakening bitter sweet memories of the

times we spent together.6

ALAN

Aren't they being a bit rash though?

BERT

Rash?

ALAN

It's only been a month and a half.7

BERT

I never said meant to imply I set them up for anything

serious. Why...

WILLIAM gets down on one knee. BERT

stares.

ALAN

Bert, are you--

WILLIAM

Marianna Monkhouse, will you marry me?

MARIANNA

Yes! Yes, yes yes!

ALAN

Say hello to the ball and chain!

WILLIAM

Lady and gentlemen, the future Mrs. William H. Staniels!

BERT

Congratulations.

WILLIAM

Bert, you certainly are a dear, for you know, you are

responsible for bringing us together which has led to such

supreme happiness.8

BERT

My pleasure.

LOVE LETTERS9

WILLIAM, BERT and MARIANNA. All asides.

WILLIAM

My lover girl:-

BERT

Dear Bill-

MARIANNA

My darling Billy Boy-

WILLIAM

I told my mother how to cook squash today and she got

somewhat peeved.10

BERT

I remember one time during the war you wrote to me.

MARIANNA

Sewed with the girls today. Sewing with the girls is alright

but there is something lacking.11

WILLIAM

"Think I don't know how to cook squash." But I think the

cheese part was new and she is going to try it out.

BERT

Well, actually, I'm thinking of a letter you wrote Alan, but

I like to think we are of equal friendship in your mind.

MARIANNA

And I am getting tired of listening to their stories and them

talk and I want to talk to you, dear Billy Boy. We always talk of

the good and beautiful things of life when we are together.

WILLIAM

I certainly like the things you cook, dear. The supper you

cooked for me at Thousand Oaks of dear memory was certainly

enjoyable and just what I like.

BERT

You were talking about England and its picturesque story book

homes.

MARIANNA

Your outlook on life is so refreshing. It certainly always

refreshed me, or how could I have stood two o'clock in the

morning steadily for two weeks?

BERT

You said they reminded you of Toyland with their narrow

crooked streets, their quaint names, the huge churches and

decrepit graveyards.12

WILLIAM

Salads and plenty of vegetables and tea. Do you bake pies

dear? My aunt makes the best pies I ever ate but she sure

does use the butter!

BERT

All these things, you said, spoke of a life that has

crystallized and narrowed into conventional channels that

would transcend and curtail one possessing the American

spirit of restlessness.

MARIANNA

What would I not give for another chance to compel you to

accidentally miss the last train home from Thousand Oaks.

WILLIAM

What a subject for a man, who is in love, to talk about. He

is supposed to exist on moonbeams and dreams according to the

story books.

BERT

You were always so restless. I was so restless. Life lay

beyond the Novelty Electric Company.

MARIANNA

What a wonderful courtship but, dearest, it did not last long

enough.

BERT

And England - You were so uncomfortable in that story book

world!

WILLIAM

But I guess we are not storybook lovers are we dearest? They

are silly and we are real human beings with human thots and

actions and human frailties too.

MARIANNA

I would like to show some people that married life can be

sincere and happy, the scoffers.

BERT

You will not be happy with Marianna. This kind of foolish

"love"? You used to bemoan the fact that you had never, and

thot you could never, get into this condition.13

WILLIAM

I am not right, little girl.

BERT

That wasn't right! You could be! You just had to search

closer, search near home! Search ... to me.

MARIANNA

And won't we work hard to make it so my dear.

BERT

But it was so hard to make you see what was in front of your

eyes. That was your frailty.

WILLIAM

Human frailties, which we will discover, and our love will be

so big that we can love them too, in an understanding manner.

How dreary life would be, dear, if we were all perfect.

BERT

And yet to me, you are perfect.

MARIANNA

Do you think that our married life will be as thrilling and

as wonderful?

WILLIAM

How wonderful our own life will be together, dear little

girl...

BERT

Think how wonderful Bill.

WILLIAM

...knowing that we are not perfect but always striving for

the highest...

BERT

I see all your faults...

WILLIAM

...seeing our faults and overcoming them thru love.

BERT

But I don't care!

WILLIAM

Each supplying what the other lacks with love always the

ultimate test of our actions. That is my idea of life.

BERT

That's what I see for our life.

WILLIAM

Not the sickly sentimental story book ending of "they lived

happily ever after."

BERT

We could be happily ever after.

WILLIAM

How I feel that we need each other!

BERT

Can't you see I need you?

WILLIAM

I have not seen Bert since we told her of our engagement but

she will be on the hike on Sunday Oct 17 when I think several

of the girls in her office will be along. Will tell you all

about it.

(BERT tears up her letter)

So you do not remember the dress you wore at Hinkle Park.

It was the one with the white sash white collar etc. You

looked so sweet in it. I wish you were wearing it now and we

were walking thru Hinkle Park to-night.

(BERT throws it to the ground)

If I could only turn back the hand of time a few months and

have my Marianna again near me.

MARIANNA

If I could only turn back the hand of time a few months and

have my Billy Boy again near me

BERT exits

WILLIAM

Will write again Monday evening. A hug & kiss from your

Billy Boy

Lights dim. End

SCRIPTNOTES

ENGAGEMENT

Scene: THE PICNIC P.1

1 - This part is purely a work of fiction. However, I can explain the choice to create this relationship in light of my research:

In the letters, William describes a woman named Therene. Upon my first reading, I thought that the letters imply that William and Therene shared an intimate relationship - and that Therene introduced him to Marianna, who he would become engaged to a month and a half later.

Upon a closer reading, I realized that the letters indicate otherwise. In his October 9th letter, William states, "You can tell Therene that I am beginning to find out what love is. I'll bet a cookie (recognize this) that she will tell you how I used to bemoan the fact that I had never, and thot [sic] I could never, get into this condition." (Staniels, William. William H Staniels Family Correspondence. The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley. Box 5, folder 1. Letter dated October 9, 1920). It seems strange that a man would say such a thing to a woman with whom he was involved. On the contrary, this statement implies a very close friendship.

I believe that my erroneous interpretation came from statements like this: "And too I am glad to hear you say that you like to talk about life, its conduct & meaning. That is one of the things that I liked about Therene, she thot about life." (Staniels, William. William H Staniels Family Correspondence. The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley. Box 5, folder 1. Letter dated October 7, 1920). By citing a similar trait between Marianna and Therene that causes him to "like" them, he implies a similar relationship. Furthermore, the "was" implies a sense of past. But this insinuation pales in comparison to other passages that imply a purely platonic relationship.

Unfortunately, by the time I realized this, I had decided for literary purposes, I preferred my original interpretation. And as technically this is a work of fiction - and that there was some basis for this interpretation - I decided to allow myself this slight deviation.

So we have Therene: the scorned former lover, forced to watch the love of her life carry on with the friend she, in fact, introduced to him. I began to see some similarities between William's relationship with Therene and that with Bert. Therene was clearly a close friend; the October 9th letter reveals a clear level of confidence between the two of them. William's constant references to Bert in his letters insinuates a similar closeness. Thus, I decided to fuse Therene with Bert to create a relationship slightly different from both of the actual ones: here is the friend secretly in love, who is replaced by the new introduction.

This serves several literary purposes. For one, it limits the number of characters in the play, keeping the action tight and manageable. Furthermore, by transferring this relationship to Bert, it heightens the effect of the sudden engagement. He has such a close established relationship with her, it makes the entire situation all the more tragic (from her perspective)

The details in this scene are based on various letters Staniels sent to Marianna in 1920. I have cited them where I could.

2 – “Mid September, 1920”: The first of Staniels' love letters to Marianna is dated September 19, 1920. She has just returned to Long Beach, and they became engaged shortly before her leaving. One can glean they became engaged midway through the month.

3 – “Mt. Tamalpais”: The letters constantly refer to William’s obsession with hiking – or “hicking,” as his mother spells it. I chose Mt. Tamalpais because he specifically references it on December 4, 1920.

4 – Ages: Both ages come from this database, which I researched using Los Angeles Public Library's system. I had started searching for a hard copy of birth records in the area, but could not find one for the East Bay in this era. I asked the librarian for help, and she directed me to ancestry.com, which included births, deaths, and social security information. It even had Staniels' draft card - by far the most exciting discovery.

7 – “A month and a half”: In a letter to Marianna’s mother, Williams assures her, “Altho it may seem to you that we have known each other for such a comparatively short time to have become engaged, nevertheless we feel that we see in each other the qualities which we have been long seeking for.” That “comparatively short time,” he reveals, is a month and a half.

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